A decorated war veteran who wounded a man when he opened fire on a couple of fisherman boating on the lake behind his home has settled with the victim he shot, finally laying the incident to rest.
Floyd Kirby Jr., 76, agreed before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to pay a lump sum of $6,300 for the injuries suffered by Ken (Stubby) Murray when he shot him as he sat in his boat on Harvest Farm Lake. The payment will settle the civil suit Murray had against the elderly shooter and also allows Kirby to roll over onto unsupervised probation for the balance of his three-year term.
Kirby was placed on probation for three years after jurors found him guilty of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment for shooting Murray and shooting in the direction of his friend, Stan Owenby.
Kirby was originally charged with attempted murder for the shooting.
Murray was wounded by rounds fired from a gun wielded by Kirby as Murray and Owenby were fishing on Harvest Farm Lake in waters behind Kirby’s house. Murray was struck in the shoulder, arm and torso by shotgun pellets and knocked off the boat. He and his friend were able to get to safety.
Accounts about what happened varied greatly during trial. The victims said Kirby yelled threats at them, telling them to get off his property. Murray said Kirby was known to threaten other fisherman on the lake, claiming the water behind his house as his own. The victims testified Kirby opened fire when they did not leave fast enough, some of the shots hitting Murray. Owenby went on to say Kirby kept firing even after he called out that his friend had been wounded.
Kirby maintained the shooting was an accident. He testified he told the boaters to move along and then went back up to his house with plans to scare off crows. He admitted shooting into the tree line with a shotgun but said he thought the boaters had already left.
After his conviction by a jury, the defense asked for probation given it was Kirby’s first brush with the law. They also noted Kirby was a decorated war veteran from the Vietnam era and that he suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome. They also noted he cares for his sickly wife and that given his own condition, both may have to be admitted to assisted living facilities.